Forrests combine foods for $7m profit

Andrew and Nicola Forrest have brought their agri-food businesses, including Harvey Beef and six pastoral stations, into the Harvest Road Group, resulting in a headline surge in profits to almost $7 million in the year to June 2018.

Financial reports lodged with the corporate regulator this month said the group posted a $6.9 million profit — up from $349,000 a year earlier. It has restructured the company to incorporate its 1.3 million hectares of pastoral operations in the Gascoyne and Pilbara and Harvey Beef, WA’s biggest beef abattoir, under Harvest Road.

While nothing operational changes, the businesses were incorporated into Harvest Road for accounting purposes.

John Hartman, chief investment officer of the Forrests’ Minderoo Group, said the company continued to have a strong conviction in the future of the WA beef industry’s ability to grow and evolve.

Harvest Road is trialling oysters near Shark Bay under its WestAus Oysters company and in December said it would develop a $50 million feedlot at Koojan, near Moora.

“The development of our best-in-class Koojan feeding facility is the key next step to address issues in the beef supply chain to unlock further growth and opportunities for the industry,” Mr Hartman said.